Sat, 9 Oct 2010, 05:12 PM Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Final Session

By Jim Samuel

MOHNTON, Pa. - Notes from final, round 4 qualifying in Funny Car at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, 26th annual Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals listing lane, driver name, elapsed time/top speed this round, position in order following run, best prior elapsed time/speed, and position in order prior to run:

---

Left Lane: Melanie Troxel Runs 4.883/235.06, Now #17; Best prior run: 7.590/92.84, Was #18
Right Lane: Phil Burkart Runs 4.208/298.87, Now #15; Best prior run: 7.181/91.48, Was #17

4:34 p.m. - Weather conditions: air temperature 80 degrees, relative humidity 38 percent, barometer 29.37 inches, adjusted altitude 2,540 feet, track temperature 97 degrees.

Troxel launched and smoked the rear tires. She tried to drive through it but had a pedal a few times, shaking and smoking the rear tires as she made her way down the track. Burkart had a cleaner run that put him in the number 15 spot in the order. With only one non-qualified driver left to make his final attempt, Burkart is safely in the field. Jeff Arend is on the bump spot at 4.271.

---

Left Lane: Justin Schriefer Runs 5.654/160.50, Now #18; Best prior run: 6.738/95.47, Was #18
Right Lane: Jeff Arend Runs 4.119/305.22, Now #10; Best prior run: 4.271/292.46, Was #16

Schriefer was the only non-qualified driver who was not in the field and Arend was on the bump spot when they staged their cars. Schriefer launched and got out to about 200 feet when the rear tires went up in smoke. He pedaled it a few times but eventually had to back out of this run. Arend had some tire shake but drove through it for his quickest pass of weekend so far and moved up six spots in the order.

---

Left Lane: Cruz Pedregon Runs 4.081/310.63, Now #6; Best prior run: 4.119/296.31, Was #11
Right Lane: Tony Pedregon Runs 4.145/288.03, Now #14; Best prior run: 4.191/277.26, Was #15

Cruz took his car pretty much down the groove to move up five spots in the order. In the other lane, Tony got loose at mid track and his car made a move toward the wall as he crossed the finish line. He got about as close to the wall as he could without hitting it but managed to keep from making contact. Even with the finish line dramatics, Tony managed to move up one spot in the qualifying order.

---

Right Lane: Ashley Force Hood Runs 4.099/308.57, Now #11; Best prior run: 4.125/304.46, Was #13

Force Hood had a clean run down the groove to move up two spots in the order.

---

Left Lane: Tim Wilkerson Runs 5.033/151.49, Now #9; Best prior run: 4.094/306.12, Was #9
Right Lane: Jim Head Runs 4.102/305.49, Now #12; Best prior run: 4.121/300.73, Was #13

Wilkerson got out to about 660 feet when he smoked the rear tires and clicked it off. Head moved up one spot in the order with a clean run.

---

Left Lane: Bob Tasca III Runs 4.114/304.12, Now #7; Best prior run: 4.085/306.95, Was #7

Tasca had a solid run but was not as quick as he was in the second session yesterday.

---

Left Lane: Ron Capps Runs 10.467/77.08, Now #5; Best prior run: 4.068/307.02, Was #5
Right Lane: Del Worsham Runs 4.105/297.16, Now #10; Best prior run: 4.096/309.20, Was #10

Capps launched and the rear tires immediately went up in smoke. He clicked it off right away. Worsham had a cleaner run but was not quick enough to change his spot in the order.

---

Left Lane: Jack Beckman Runs 4.114/303.16, Now #4; Best prior run: 4.068/308.00, Was #4
Right Lane: Robert Hight Runs 9.946/73.46, Now #3; Best prior run: 4.060/304.94, Was #3

Hight had some tire shake and smoke and backed off the throttle. Beckman took his car down the track but did not move in the order.

---

Left Lane: John Force Runs 4.103/302.75, Now #2; Best prior run: 4.057/311.27, Was #2
Right Lane: Matt Hagan Runs 4.046/308.99, Now #1; Best prior run: 4.011/311.56, Was #1

Hagan had a great run to back up last nights 4.011 second run and set a national ET record. To do it, he took his car straight down the groove. Force did the same in the other lane but was not quick enough to take over the top spot in the order. That's it for Funny Car qualifying here today.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink